Possession

Possession by gods, ghosts, and spirits is
an accepted element in the traditional
Hindu worldview, although whether this
is good or bad depends on the nature of
the being responsible. Possession is the
most common means for village deities
and certain forms of the Goddess to
communicate with human beings,
although the highest gods in the pantheon virtually never use this medium.
Possession by a deity can bring a person
high religious status but is generally said
to be physically exhausting; through
the medium the deities can interact
with human beings, both to make their
wishes known and to give their help and
advice to those who need it. One of the
more unusual cases of this occurs at the
annual pilgrimage at Kataragama in Sri
Lanka. Devotees (bhakta) suspend
themselves from trees by hooks stuck
into the flesh of their backs and, while
suspended, are believed to be speaking
for the god Murugan.
Possession by departed spirits (bhut
or pret) or by witches and other malefic
beings is always seen as an inopportune
event and a dangerous imposition on
the sufferer that must be remedied as
soon as possible through healing or
exorcism. As Sudhir Kakar masterfully
shows, the language of possession and
exorcism can be interpreted as an
“idiom,” using traditional Indian cultural
categories, for what modern psychiatrists might call the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. For further
information see Sudhir Kakar, Shamans,
Mystics, and Doctors, 1991.